1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to baseball and softball bats, and more particularly to a bat having a hollow barrel with a concentrated weight load oriented at the end of the bat adjacent the ball striking zone and the method of making the bat.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The idea of adding weight to the end of a ball bat to increase the inertia of the bat as it is swung at a ball is known per se. Traditionally, with wooden ball bats the weight distribution was controlled by selecting a circumference of the ball striking zone which provided a predetermined weight distribution. Also, with wooden ball bats, it was known to drill out a hole in the end of the bat and to insert a weight in the bored out hole.
With hollow metal ball bats, one way that the weight distribution is controlled is by making the wall of the bat barrel thinner or thicker. Another known way that the weight distribution is controlled is by placing a material inside the bat barrel.
The following U.S. patents are exemplary of the various methods for increasing the weight toward the ball striking end of the bat.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,499,128 issued on Jun. 24, 1924 to W. A. Shroyer discloses a hollow metal baseball bat having an internally threaded aperture or bore at the end of the bat with a cylindrical weight element threaded into the bore in the bat end to regulate the weight balance of the bat. To adjust or change the weight balance of the bat to suite different players, the weight can be cut to any suitable length before it is installed in the bore at the bat end.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,116,926 issued on Jan. 7, 1964 to A. M. Owen et al. discloses a wooden bat having an end of the bat drilled out to form a chamber. A compression spring is installed in the chamber and weights are inserted into the chamber above the spring. The open end of the chamber is closed by an end cap so that the spring biases the weights against the end cap. The length and number of weights can be varied in accordance with the desired amount of weight to be added to the bat.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,955,816 issued on May 11, 1976 to Leonard R. Bratt discloses a warm-up bat comprised of a bat handle fastened to one end of a weight chamber structure. The end of the weight chamber structure opposite the handle is closed by an end plug threaded into the end of the chamber structure. The weight chamber structure is filled with weighted material such as sand. The weight of the warm-up bat can be changed by increasing or decreasing the amount of sand in the chamber structure.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,963,239 issued on Jun. 15, 1976 to Hirokazu Fujii discloses a hollow metal bat having a weight installed into the hollow batting or ball striking portion of the bat. The weight can be a cylindrical plug, a hollow cylinder, a coil spring or a helical member. The open end of the bat is closed by an end cap. The weight of the bat can be changed by installing a weight insert of different size and weight.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,241,919 issued on Dec. 30, 1980 to Ronald Foreman discloses a hollow metallic baseball bat having an open end closed and sealed by a rubber resilient end plug. The pressure of the air inside the hollow space of the bat is modified to attain the optimum pressure, either above or below atmospheric pressure, inside the bat to enable the bat to vibrate at critical structural frequency to thereby impart resonance conditions upon the ball when the ball is struck by the bat.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,744,136 issued on May 17, 1988 to Ronald Foreman discloses a hollow metallic bat having a rubber weight plug located inside the bat at the end of the bat. The weight plug has a protruding portion which further secures the plug in place. The plug is forced into the end of the bat with a compression fit, and the end of the bat is spun down to partially close the end of the bat but leaving a central opening at the end of the bat through which the protruding portion of the plug extends. The interior of the bat is then pressurized with compressed air which forces the plug along the bat pushing the protruding portion of the plug through the central opening of the spun down end of the bat further securing the plug in place without the use of adhesive.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,763,899 issued on Aug. 16, 1988 to W. Maynard Hundley discloses a warm-up bat fabricated of a moldable polyurethane material which is flexible and resilient. An elongated stiffener rod with a weight attached at one end is molded in the polyurethane material of the bat.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,844,460 issued on Jul. 4, 1989 to Hal D. Mitchell et al. discloses a wooden ball bat which is formed of two pieces, each pieces is formed with a recess at a selected position along its length. The two pieces of the bat are located in side-by-side position with each other such that the recesses are in alignment with each other combing to form a void inside the bat barrel when the two pieces are glued together. The size and position of the void along the bat barrel determines the weight and center of gravity of the bat.
The above-mentioned patents all teach that the weight distribution of the bat can be increased or decreased by increasing or decreasing, respectively, the size or volume of the weight material added at the end of the bat. However, as the size or volume of the weight material added to the bat is increased to increase the weight, the weight material extends into the interior of the hollow bat barrel in the ball striking zone and adversely interferes with the wall of the bat barrel when the ball strikes a ball.
The above-mentioned patents do not disclose the novel concept of the present invention of providing a weight material at the ball striking end of the bat barrel which forms a concentrated weight load at the end of the bat barrel which weight can be increased without increasing the volume of the added weight material thereby providing a concentrated weight load oriented axially outwardly of the ball striking zone so that the short length of the added weight material will not interfere with the wall of the ball barrel from flexing inwardly when a ball is struck which is essential to maintain maximum velocity of the ball as it leaves the bat thereby obtaining maximum distance of ball travel.